‘Third Mainland Bridge repair for completion this month’

LAGOS – THE current repair works on the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos will be completed by the end of this month, (October, 2012) accor- ding to the company handling the rehabilitation, Borini Prono Nigeria Limited.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the repair works, which began in July, had been scheduled for completion on Nov. 6

However, Mr. Nastani Claudio, Borini Prono's Manager, told visiting members of the House of Representatives Sub-Committee on Works yesterday that only three of the eight joints were left to be fixed.

"We are now working on the last three joints," Claudio told the lawmakers who were in Lagos for an on-the-spot assessment of works on the bridge and other projects.

The manager said that if the bridge was properly maintained after the current repairs, it would be all right for another 25 years.

Dr. Rafiu Ibrahim, Ifelodun/Offa/Oyun Federal Constituency, Kwara, who led the team, told newsmen  he was sure that the contractor would not disappoint the government.

CBN Adds INEC Voter Card To List Of Identification Options

Introduces Uniform Account Opening Forms For Money Deposit Banks

BANK customers can now tender their Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) voter cards as part of identification requirements while seeking approvals for highly sensitive transactions, including cheque withdrawals and account opening.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which has also introduced uniform account opening forms for all money deposit banks in the country, said the move is in line with its vision of financial inclusion in the country. It, therefore, directed banks to, henceforth, accept INEC voter cards as means of identification from customers who may not have any means of identification.

The adoption of a uniform accounts opening forms, according to the apex bank, is to simplify the process and encourage the teeming number of unbanked to embrace new financial culture.

The CBN explained the new measures in separate circulars issued to all money deposit banks and other financial institutions.

The inclusion of the INEC voter card as means of identification, it said, followed an earlier circular on Anti- Money Laundry regulation of 2009 on acceptable means of identification.

The circular, which was signed by Mr. Amugo, K.N for the apex bank director in charge of Financial Policy and Regulations, reads in part; " further to our Circular on AML/CFT Regulation 2009 on acceptable means of identification for the purposes of accounts Opening and transaction of banking business in Nigeria, it has become necessary, as a result of the need to enhance financial inclusion, to extend the acceptable identification options."

Accordingly, it directed all banks and other financial institutions to accept INEC's voter registration card duly issued by INEC, bearing the holder's particulars, such as name, photograph, date of birth and address, as valid additional means of identification of natural persons for the purpose of conducting banking business in Nigeria.

On what informed the introduction of a uniform account opening forms for banks in Nigeria, the apex bank, in a circular by Mr. Ubot, U.A for the same director of Financial Policy and Regulations, said:   "The absence of uniformity in Accounts Opening Procedure and documentation for prospective customers has continued to hinder the effectiveness of Know Your customers [KYC] requirements in banks and other financial institutions in Nigeria.

It continued: "The adverse implication of this on the fight against money laundering and combating of terrorism cannot be over-emphasised. The CBN, in conjunction with the chief compliance officers of banks, has, therefore, developed draft uniform account opening forms for adoption by banks and other financial institutions in order to increase customers' due-diligence; comply with AML\CFT standard and facilitate quick investigation of financial crimes by relevant agencies."

Regards,

IAT Boluwatise ¦ +234 808 716 0197
Sent from Samsung Galaxy Note

Ofeimun , Adebanjo stoke controversy over Achebe’s comments on Awolowo

PREDICTABLY, more diverse reactions are pouring in over renowned author, Prof. Chinua Achebe's new book – There Was A Country: A Personal History of Biafra.  While Chief Olanihun Ajayi would not like to comment until he had read the book, a prominent member of the Pan-Yoruba organisation, Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo suspects that Achebe had been quoted out of context. He told The Guardian yesterday that he was preparing a treatise to put what really transpired during the Biafra war in proper context.

However, to a prominent poet and author, Odia Ofeimun, Achebe should not have thrown his weight behind the justification for the war in his book, because what the Biafran leaders did, he insisted, amounted to genocide against the Igbo people.

Ofeimun, who spoke at a Book Party organized by the Committee for Relevant Art (CORA), to celebrate the 10 authors shortlisted for the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Prize for Literature in Lagos at the weekend, argued that Achebe had the opportunity to set the records straight in his book but failed to do so.

Adebanjo wondered why anybody could have reported that Chief Obafemi Awolowo started the Biafra war when he (Awolowo) was in prison.  He said: "How can any one report that Awolowo started the war? He was in prison when all this (Biafra war) began. Ojukwu started the war. Even against all odds, Awolowo went to Ojukwu with Chief Samuel Mariere and Prof. Sam Aluko to try to persuade him to avert the war, but Ojukwu insisted."

However, Ofeimun insisted that the Biafran leaders should have been compelled to face the Nuremburg-Type trial, organized by the United Nations, similar to the one conducted by the Allied Forces in respect of the Nazi Germany war criminals.

He said: "All leaders of Biafra should be taken to Nuremberg-type Trial for committing genocide against their own people and made to face genocide charges. They knew they had no guns; they knew they were unprepared for the war but took the Igbos to war. And because the rest of us were angry, we allowed ourselves to be misled by propaganda. What happened to the Igbos was very bad; it was wrong. The leaders committed genocide. And the rest of us are being made to feel guilty for their crimes. And I expected Achebe to correct the story in his book, he merely took the jelly out of the jar".

Ofeimun, who, as a 17 years old, was ready to sign up to fight on the Biafran side, lamented that the Igbo leadership that took the war decision misled the rest of the world and the ordinary Igbo people with the propaganda that was mounted. The poet stated that even a Biafran commander, like Hilary Njoku, warned of Biafra's unpreparedness for the war. He insisted that they couldn't fight the war.

Achebe's book, like other various accounts of the bitter Civil War (1966 – 1970) before it, has lived up to the reputation of sparking off controversy.

Regards,

IAT Boluwatise ¦ +234 808 716 0197
Sent from Samsung Galaxy Note

Feud Brews between Namadi Sambo and Yakowa



With the presidential elections of 2015 drawing near, the would-be political players have begun the mapping of strategies against what experts believe will be a horse race. Particularly, since the President, Dr. Goodluck Ebelemi Jonathan, had begun exhibiting body language indicating he may have interest in contesting for re-election in 2015.

But information received from sources inside Kaduna government house reveal that a caustic feud may be on the offing between the former governor of Kaduna State, Namadi Sambo and the present governor of Kaduna State, Patrick Yakowa. This is as the source disclosed that the vice President, Namadi Sambo appears uneasy over the close relationship enjoyed by the present governor of Kaduna with the President.

"Sambo is afraid of Yakowa's relationship with President Jonathan" said our source.

The source noted that President Jonathan's decision to select Namadi Sambo as his vice president was clear, calculative and intentional in order to hoist a Christian governor in Kaduna State. Vice President Namadi Sambo is said to have been aware of the reason behind his selection.

Following Sambo's selection to the top seat, our source indicates that the President's relationship with Governor Yakowa grew tighter and has flourished – to the extent that Governor Yakowa's political clout in the State appears threatening that of the Vice President.

The cozy relationship with the president has afforded the governor a rising political currency. And it negatively concerns the vice president because he believes the governor and the President may be "up to something".

In turn, the Vice President Sambo opted to checkmate the relationship. Our source reveals that Sambo unleashed an underground campaign against Governor Yakowa alleging that Yakowa was hatching a plan to go up against President Jonathan in 2015 for the presidential seat. But the Yakowa group was quick to deny the allegation in a half page advertorial placed in Daily Trust Newspapers of October 3, 2012.

It is no secret that Vice President Sambo harbors aspirations of becoming the president of Nigeria come 2015. But he suspects that Governor Yakowa maybe clandestinely preparing to join the presidential contest.

Already, the Kaduna political line-up and structure under the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] appears accenting more towards the governor rather than the Vice President – as it restructures for 2015. The Governor is seen as the go to guy owing to his closeness to the President. The Senators and the members of the House of Representatives from Kaduna State are reportedly loyal to the Governor – rather than to the vice president.

Sambo's fear had already robbed Kaduna its fair share of the national cake.  No Kaduna indigene's name was submitted to receive a national award from the President – owing to the fear on the part of the Vice president.

Three of 10 Nigerian men are not fathers of their ‘kids’ – DNA expert



Is paternity testing becoming an issue in Nigeria?

We have seen that there is serious need for it because in many homes things are happening that are scary both to the lives of children and their parents. And for the general statistics that is now available, it is found that three out of every ten men are not the fathers of their babies. Similarly, three out of every ten children are not fathered by men they have seen as their biological fathers. What we have found out is that, anytime we take ten men, at least three of them eventually found that they are not the fathers of the children they call their own. And these men would have taken care of the children for all their lives.

Now, the global statistics is 100, 000 out of every 300, 000 men. But what we have found that is that the situation is higher in Nigeria than other places. For example in our laboratory here, 50 per cent of the cases comes out negative. And we also realised that majority of the first-borns are affected. You only need to be here to see big men cry like little kids and watch children weep in agony. It has been that bad. And I dare say it is becoming something every home must do and you may be quite surprised at the level of dastard revelation.

About thirty per cent of fathers are unknowingly bringing up children who are not biologically theirs. And it is suspected that this percentage may be on the increase due to sexual recklessness. According to recent trends in sexual health, especially in Nigeria, it was suggested that unprotected sex and multiple partners are comparatively common occurrences with a large proportion of conceptions still unplanned. So, more than half, that is, 50 per cent of all paternity tests carried out by our lab comes out negative and the most affected are first-borns, except in a few cases.

Do these cases happen mostly in matrimonial settings or in casual relationships?

In both matrimony and casual affiliations! I tell you, we have had series of married men come here and go back home devastated. In one instance, a man came here with his wife. Out of the five children he thought were his own, he discovered that only two belonged to him. And they are both duly married, living together as husband and wife. You see, the major problem we have in our country is that most of these cases are not duly documented. So, people don't know we have such issues among us. In fact, some even don't know where to go for the test to determine their child or children's paternity. And I tell you, if you go to ten homes as we speak, you will be amazed to find that in almost all of them the children there do not belong to the men. It is that rampant.

If it is that rampant, how would you describe the three years since you started testing men?

Now, the general statistics by the American Association of Blood Banks is that globally, 100, 000 out of 300, 000 men are not the actual fathers of their presumed children. And like I said earlier, the Nigerian situation is even alarming. Also, Duess International, the condom manufacturers, once noted that Nigeria has the most reckless sexual life. So, you can then imagine what the outcome would be like if we say okay, let's start taking statistics one-by-one.

How many families do you attend to each week?

We test about 15 to 20 families. People come here as a result of various types of controversies over the paternity of certain children. You know, families have come to us with claims that a child neither takes after the mother nor the father in looks and character. So, the man of the house would be curious to ascertain facts. And when they come here with such children, the fears of the fathers have often been affirmed. Fathers usually have the doubts; maybe he has been hearing some rumours, and you know, men are often the last to hear such things about themselves. Until many of them come here to take the test, they have nurtured other men's children before realising it.

What does it take to do a paternity test?

Technology has made it so easy. It is just like any other deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) test. In less than two seconds, we take the sample from the man. We use the Helix Swabs like a "big cotton buds" to extract some cells from the man's mouth. We rub the 'Swab' up-and-down the mouth to get some epithelial cells from around the cheek bone. In the nucleus of every cell, there is DNA. Once we collect that, we purify, extract and then multiply it and get the genetic profile which we then send to DNA laboratory abroad for testing.

What happens in situations where DNA samples do not match as we saw with someDANA victims?

So many reasons could be responsible for that. We have had a case in which a boy went to an hospital to claim the body of his deceased dad and on testing him, it was found that he was not fathered by the dead man. The genetic profile of the boy does not match with that of the man he claimed to be his father. And DNAs don't lie. The medical experts conducting these tests have nothing personal against the people that come to them for testing. Every human being take half of the genetic profile from either parent. Therefore, it is a matter of case closed if the genetic profile of the living does not match with that of the dead man. He is simply not that father.

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Source: The Nation

Ways to tell your car is overheating

The first thing to check in a car that is overheating is to perform a visual check. First, look underneath the car for any visible sign of a coolant leak. A light green, yellow, or orange fluid on the floor is a sign of a leak. A leak can occur anywhere around the engine bay. Check the radiator reservoir and make sure that there is enough fluid. Is there is not enough fluid, add fluid until it reach the full mark.

The quickest way to check for coolant is to perform a pressure test. Hook-up the equipment to the radiator and apply pressure. This will help you determine where the leak is coming from. Set pressure to around 16 pound and if the gauge start dropping, the pressure is not holding then there is a leak somewhere. Now here are seven reasons to look for in an overheating car.

1. A bad radiator cap can cause the engine to overheat. A radiator cap should hold pressure according to the cap specification. If the cap is rusty or looks like it is worn, you will have to replace the cap.

2. A failed cooling fan will not help the radiator to dissipate the heat. Coolant flows from the engine water jacket passage to the radiator. The radiator fan helps remove heat from the radiator. If the cooling fan fails to do its job the car will overheat.

3. A stuck closed thermostat will not allow coolant to circulate around the engine. The coolant will sit in the engine water jacket and in the radiator causing heat to build up. Replace the bad thermostat.

4. A failed water pump will overheat a car. The fins on the water pump have been worn down and are not able to circulate the coolant.

5. A clogged radiator like most of the symptoms above prevents coolant from circulating. Keep in mind that a radiator can look like it is in good condition but in fact clogged.

6. A blown head gasket will allow coolant to seep into the chamber and burn the coolant. The end result is low coolant and an overheating vehicle.

7. Bad hoses or worn hoses are common for a car to overheat. Coolant leaks out of the hoses resulting in loss of coolant, therefore causing a car to overheat.

Cars overheat most often in very hot weather. It's rare with modern vehicles, but even a well-tuned automobile can overheat. If you find yourself in stop-and-go traffic or climbing a steep grade on an extremely hot day, and your dashboard temperature indicator starts to rise or a malfunction indicator light comes on, here's how to help your vehicle regain its cool:

At the first sign of overheating, shut off your air conditioner and open your windows: Doing so decreases the load on the engine and helps it cool off.

If it continues to overheat, turn on the heater and blower: Doing so transfers the heat from the engine to the passenger compartment of the vehicle.

If you're stopped in traffic and the temperature gauge is rising, shift into Neutral or Park and rev the engine a little: Doing so makes the water pump and the fan speed up, which draws more liquid and air through the radiator. The increased air and liquid circulation helps cool things off.

Try not to ride your brakes: In stop-and-go traffic, crawl along slowly, on little more than an idle, rather than moving up and then braking repeatedly. Brake drag increases the load on the engine and makes it heat up. If traffic is crawling, move up only when the gap between you and the vehicle in front of you gets too large.

If you think that your vehicle is about to boil over, drive to the right-hand side of the road, open the hood, and sit there until things cool off. Remember, don't open the radiator cap under these circumstances, and if your engine has boiled over, don't add water until the engine is quite cool again.

Sources: enginemisfire.com, dummies.com

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Road that lead to jail in Lagos as from Friday

 

Roads that lead to jail in Lagos A report in The Guardian says the controversial new traffic bill prescribing 3 years jail term for one-way traffic violators will be signed into law tomorrow by Gov Fashola. Trying to be my brother's keeper, I would like to share with you some roads in Lagos that can take you directly to jail as from Friday. Since a new Shopping Mall accommodating Shoprite was launched in Alausa, Ikeja, the road that passes directly behind it is now a one-way street. Policemen have been feeding fat on people who had used that road for ages and are unaware of this new development. When the bill becomes law, heading in the wrong direction on the road will send you to jail for three years. To new motorists or those visiting Lagos, Somolu is filled with booby-traps that can send you to jail. One-way streets there are numerous. But the ones that quickly come to mind include Oyebajo Street. If you're coming from Morocco Road, going to Ikorodu Road, Oyebajo Street is to the right. With no visible signs, this street is a one-way ticket to jail. Again, when coming from Ikorodu Road, heading to Igbobi College, there is another one-way traffic street by Fadeyi Bus Stop via Kalejaiye Street. It is the right turning before the National Orthopaedic hospital. LASTMA guys will usually not stay at the entry point to warn you, but in the middle to apprehend you. You will regain your freedom in three years! Then the popular bridge linking Dopemu to Egbeda is one-way traffic at a designated time of each day. From 5am to 1159am you can cross from Dopemu side to the Egbeda side without any trouble. But if you are delayed and cannot cross to Egbeda side before noon, make a quick U-turn. If you still go ahead and cross to the other side, LASTMA and the police will be waiting for you with a Black Maria. Kiss your freedom goodbye. On the Yaba/Akoka axis, there are a few booby-traps, apart from the clear one-way traffic roads with concrete medians. The one that leaps to mind now is the major road from University Junction that leads directly to UNILAG Gate. This road is 95 percent two-way traffic. But there is a 5 percent one-way traffic, where you have to detour inside the community and burst out a little further down the road. There is an old, faded 'No Entry' sign, to warn motorists, but many first timers miss it. They are joking with three years jail term. The service lane at Osodi coming from Mile Two is presumably two-way traffic up to a little after NAFDAC. The road forks into two, the right links CAPPA/Mushin, while the left links Osodi Oke. Motorists who want to drop passengers at Osodi, but are too law-abiding to do it on the Expressway, usually enter the service lane, drop their passengers, drive past NAFDAC and at the fork, bear left to link Osodi Oke, onward to Oworonsoki or Maryland, as the case maybe. But any day some LASTMA officials are broke, they usually stay on top of Osodi Oke bridge and monitor those climbing the bridge at the fork. They then pounce on them, accusing them of one-way traffic violation. If you are unlucky to pass that route on one of such days, you will be writing a prison memoir soon, or you offer to pay for the school fees of the children of the 'hardworking' LASTMA guys who apprehend you. Which would it be? Then, from the past few months, motorists coming from Toll Gate by 7 Up, and attempting to link Oregun can no longer drive straight into Ikosi Road by Union Bank. Entry has been barred even though there is no single sign to that effect yet. In lieu of that, there are traffic cones placed there to guide motorists. In all fairness, there are sometimes some honest LASTMA guys at the intersection to guide confused motorists how they can access Ikosi via Lever Brothers. But often times, on duty are the crooked ones who see an opportunity to make money. When a LAWMA truck or other government vehicles exempted from traffic laws blow these cones away, motorists coming afterwards inadvertently drive into Ikosi at the intersection and are slammed by LASTMA and gun-toting policemen. You are in serious trouble. There are many more, I'm sure. If there are some roads you know that are not included, be your brothers' keeper and share. Wish you a jail-free motoring.